Head of Estimating

Head of Estimating - Balfour Beatty Alliance)

Location: Peterborough (Hybrid working available)

Balfour Beatty play a key role as part of the (6) Anglian Water' Alliance: Overview Water's one Alliance. The Alliance is a ground-breaking collaboration between Anglian Water and eight industry-leading partners: Balfour Beatty, Barhale, Binnies, MMB, MWH Treatment, Skanska and SWECO. And together, we deliver around 40% of Anglian Water's capital investment programme.

As we progress through AMP8 - our most ambitious asset management period to date - we're delivering nature-based and sustainable infrastructure, from wetlands to urban drainage schemes, setting new benchmarks for environmental performance.

To help drive this programme, we are looking for an exceptional Head of Estimating to lead our estimating function across the Alliance.

This is a high-impact strategic leadership role, responsible for shaping estimating strategy, driving commercial excellence and supporting the successful delivery of our capital programme. You and your team will play a critical role in determining project value, performance and risk, ensuring the right commercial outcomes for the business, our customers and the environment.

What You'll Be Doing:

Strategic Leadership

• Lead and evolve the estimating strategy in line with our goals for affordability, carbon reduction and environmental performance.
• Take overall accountability for all estimating activities across Alliance.
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing estimating team.
• Own and maintain the Alliance cost base, ensuring accuracy, consistency and relevance.
• Champion a culture of commercial excellence, transparency and continuous improvement.

Project Delivery & Estimating

• Oversee estimates across key project delivery milestones.
• Lead affordability assessments and early-stage cost assurance activities.
• Support optioneering through high-level budget estimating.
• Oversee outline and detailed design estimates using both top-down and bottom-up methodologies.
• Ensure consistency, robustness and quality across all estimating outputs.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work closely with Design, Commercial, Project Management, Construction, Planning and Procurement teams.
• Develop strong relationships with supply chain partners and cost intelligence teams.
• Maintain the integrity of the estimating process whilst balancing stakeholder requirements.

Cost Capture & Intelligence

• Lead all cost capture activities to enhance and strengthen the Alliance cost database.
• Collaborate with commercial and procurement teams to capture accurate project cost information.
• Use cost intelligence and insights to improve estimating accuracy and support future regulatory submissions.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Drive improvements in estimating systems, tools and ways of working.
• Champion standardisation and challenge inefficient processes.
• Support innovation initiatives through cost modelling, forecasting and analysis.

People & Culture

• Develop, coach and inspire a high-performing team.
• Promote diversity, inclusion and an environment where everyone can contribute.
• Support employee wellbeing, engagement and continuous development.

Health, Safety & Wellbeing

• Promote a positive safety culture with a goal of zero harm.
• Ensure compliance with health, safety and wellbeing requirements, audits and reporting.
• Lead by example through safe working practices and visible leadership.

What You'll Bring:

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree qualified in a relevant discipline.
• Significant experience leading estimating teams within major infrastructure or construction programmes.
• Strong commercial, financial and estimating expertise, with experience of NEC contracts (particularly NEC Option C).
• Proven ability to influence strategic business decisions and drive commercial outcomes.
• Professional qualification (RICS, ICES or CIOB) desirable.

Skills & Attributes

• Strategic leader with strong people management and team development capabilities.
• Confident influencing and challenging senior stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex financial information.
• Results-driven, with a focus on quality, innovation and continuous improvement.
• Collaborative approach and the ability to build strong relationships across multiple stakeholders.

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK's most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strength communities.

Why join us?

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn't rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You'll have the freedom to shape the package that's right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

• - Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• - 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
• - Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
• - Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more

Balfour Beatty's Highways business delivers major schemes including motorway upgrade programmes, complex national infrastructure projects and regional investment programme works for National Highways. We have a strong orderbook and a positive pipeline of opportunities, we put the road user, at the heart of everything we do. We work safely, reduce carbon emissions and added social value to the communities within which we work.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit

To help and support us with our desired commitment to create an inclusive culture we are members of WISE, enei, Business Disability Forum and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE). In 2020, we signed the Audeliss and Involve Open Letter to demonstrate our commitment to taking key long term and sustainable actions on Black Inclusion. Balfour Beatty is also a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long-term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit

We are looking to continually improve our resourcing process and ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all. If you have any feedback on the process, please share this with us at